


To Feel Alive Again

by Moria



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Bathing/Washing, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-24 02:16:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4901677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moria/pseuds/Moria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reembodied in Valinor, Finrod visits Amarië.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Feel Alive Again

**Author's Note:**

> For the wildcard square on my Season of Kink card. For this one I chose shower/bath

“Beloved, perhaps a bath would soothe your nerves?” Amarië asked gently. Finrod, or Findaráto as he had been known in his previous life in Valinor, glanced up, taken out of his reverie by the voice of the beautiful woman. A glance into her eyes and he felt the sorrow of years wasted where they could have been together. He had been so close to asking for her hand in marriage, three days away from that fateful night, when a difficult decision was laid out for him to choose. She would have followed him had her father not forbade her. Now they were but memories, fading echoes of another life. 

A glance to her hands showed him she had never set her eyes on another, waiting for him all these years. 

“You must pardon me,” he said. “I should not bother you after being away for so long.” 

“Have you spoken with your parents?” 

“Yes, but it did not feel right, as though I was merely a ghost in their presence. I am slipping in and out of reality, beloved. I cannot keep my grip on it. Coming back here…it feels as a mistake, like being pulled apart and after a time put back together, meant to be wholly new and yet…”

“Perhaps it will take a while,” Amarië said. “I have seen a few happy returns from the Halls, though I do not know how long it takes before they are accustomed to being alive again. Perhaps some time to soak in a bath will help?”

Seeing no harm in it, Finrod agreed, taking Amarië’s hand towards the bathing room. He had been to her house constantly in the past, was used to the unique interior design which were of her own making. Vaguely, he thought with a smile, she would enjoy learning of the designs of dwarves and of the Moriquendi, see what she could fuse with her own work. 

Once reaching the bathing room, Amarië set out to work, lighting some scented candles, incense, and filling the bath with scented oils that immediately set his mind at ease. 

“I often find doing this relaxing and rejuvenating after a long hard day of work,” she confessed with an embarrassed smile. 

“I wish I had figured a means to pacify my own mind in my old life,” Finrod said. 

She gathered up towels to set beside the tub when she glanced at Finrod and blushed. Realizing what it was, he turned around and offered to remove his clothes and enter the tub while she looked away. The bubbles had become widespread and just thick enough to hide as much of himself below the waist. 

“Now, just relax,” she said when he had settled back after taking in the warmth of the water. “You will feel so much better when this is done, I promise.” 

She settled herself on the marble ledge of the tab and began scooping water to wet his hair throughly. A sweet scent met his nose, and he glanced at the bottle of an emulsion in her hand that she used to massage his scalp into a lather. He sighed as the mix of the smell and the hypnotic effect of having his scalp massaged and scrubbed set him at an ease - and a sudden jolt which began at the nape of his neck and travelled down. He sat up a little straighter, closing his eyes as the lather was rinsed out, but another jolt came when her slick fingers trailed down his neck, fingertips brushing over a particular spot, feeling the pulse in his neck. 

He kept his eyes closed, realizing how much more vivid her touch became, drunk in the effects it was giving him. Her hands roamed his neck and shoulder, down his back, and back up, down his arms, her touches meaningful and deliberate, and each stroke making him yearn more for earthly passions he had given up so long ago for favor of familial honor. 

They had never consummated their love, waiting for the union of their vows as it was their people’s custom. The memory of her lips on his returned, and feeling a burst of energy consume him, he yearned greatly to pick her up and kiss her, take her to bed and seal the unspoken promise left lingered in their sorrowful parting. 

He knew she had seen his erection when he heard the gasp and felt the sudden puff of breath on the back of his neck. 

“I apologize,” he said, taking deep breaths and trying to ignore her fingers set on his chest so close to his right nipple. “Is there a chance your parents may visit you today?” 

“No,” Amarië said, and started to move her fingers down gently, eliciting another small shudder from Finrod. How wonder it was to feel alive again, he realized. 

“Oh.” Tonight, he thought then, tonight they will pick up where they had left off.


End file.
